Day One
After the whirlwind of activities (and walking) all over Rome and Florence, we were ready to dial it down and relax! The drive into Greve in Chianti was pretty easy and quick, and we were glad to arrive at the peaceful and beautiful surroundings of our hotel - the Castello di Vicchiomaggio* (review will be up tomorrow).
Since our room wasn't ready yet, we signed up for the 11am wine and cellar tour offered by the hotel (12 euros per person). The tour begins with a drive to the vineyards where you learn about the local grapes and wines. Then you head up to the castle's wine cellar and learn more about the aging and bottling process. By then, we were ready to taste some wine! The tasting focused on chianti wines and they were all quite good. If you ask, they will also provide you tastings of their white wines which I think I actually enjoyed more than their standard chianti. We got a bottle to drink by the pool later.
It was well past 1pm by this time and I was very hungry so we ventured into town to find some place to eat lunch. The main square was clearing out after the morning market. We took a quick turn and randomly decided to eat at Albergo Ristorante* because they had an upstairs balcony overlooking the small square. They didn't speak much english and the server seemed reserved and not super friendly until we ordered. I guess he was worried we would order badly like the table next to us who ordered cappuccinos.... Anyways, once we started eating our fatigue melted away. Everything was delicious!
After our wonderful meal, we walked around the square and browsed some of the galleries and gift shops. We decided to head back to the hotel and see our room, but got sidetracked by a small market where we got some delicious plums and Le Cantine di Greve in Chianti* - which is an amazing wine shop where you can taste hundreds of wines, olive oils, grappas, etc. Even though we were exhausted, we managed to do a small sampling. We saw that they carried the rose we had at lunch but they only had one bottle left so we snatched it up! |
| The view from the infinity pool. |
We returned to the hotel to rest and took a swim in the lovely pool, before venturing out again for dinner. We had reservations at La Cantinetta* which had really great reviews online. I had read it was difficult to find because it was nestled in the hills .... our gps led us right through the scary, rocky terrain (instead of the easier route around the hill) and we were literally afraid for our lives getting there. My husband even saw a deer gawking at us - wondering "who were these idiots driving on this dirt road?" In the meantime, my mind was imagining that we would end up trapped in some abandoned hut in the wild like in some bad B horror movie...
But luckily nothing bad happened. We ultimately found our destination and with great relief, got out of the car. The view from the restaurant is pretty stupendous but we were spoiled from our views at the hotel and we were still reeling from the drive so I don't think we truly appreciated it. The food was standard Tuscan fare and was all quite delicious.
We had proscuitto & melon, truffle pasta, bistecca florentine (really really great steak - dare I say even better than the steak at Buca Mario in Florence??) and a delicious sangiovese. At the end of the meal, the waiter plopped down an unlabelled bottle with a clear liquid and a stick of rosemary inside - and declared "our own grappa! have as much as you want!" Can you imagine if we took him up on that offer? Fortunately, we showed restraint and tasted a little shot and were on our way back to the hotel.... we were able to find the civilized route back which was longer, but definitely preferable.Day Two
Breakfast at the hotel was very nice - there were the standard eggs, meat, fruit, etc. but the homemade pastries were fabulous! After eating, we headed out to Siena for a day trip (which I'll describe in a separate blog).
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| Breakfast at Castello Vichiomaggio ... ah that cake was divine! |
We returned back to Greve in Chianti later that day with a picnic we purchased at a fine foods shop in Siena. It was still early enough for a quick dip in the pool. Then, we set up our own little feast on the hotel grounds and enjoyed the cheese, salami, olives, crackers, fruit and wine while watching the sun slowly set over the green hills. It was like a perfect summer dream.
Day Three
We had planned on driving to San Gimignano but my poor husband was tired of driving through the hills so instead he offered to take me to the Mall in Florence (outlet shopping). Little did he know how stressful that drive would be.
Despite the drive, I have to admit outlet shopping in Florence is pretty fabulous. I will write more about it in a shopping blog later. I did end up getting some amazing deals so I do not regret going at all. (My husband may have a different story to tell.)
I was so busy shopping that I didn't even eat lunch so when we returned to Greve in Chianti I was starving! But before we got to town we saw Castello di Verrazzano on the side of the road and decided to stop in for a wine tasting. I wasn't that impressed but somehow my husband got talked into buying an expensive bottle which needed to be aged for 5 years. (It's sitting in our wine fridge now. We will be tasting it in July 2019...) We decided to return to Le Cantine di Greve in Chianti* to taste more wines and to have a 'snack'.... my snack turned out to be a huge plate of charcuterie and cheese served with a wonderfully spicy honey. I knew as I was stuffing my face that I was probably ruining my dinner but I didn't care.
We did some shopping for souvenirs and gifts on the square. I also purchased another artwork in a shop on the square - I am not sure the piece I bought was even on sale. The owner/painter seemed tickled that I liked the landscape watercolor which was not even on display but hidden amongst a stack of other work, and told me I could have it for 10 euros.
Then we spent some time at Antica Macelleria Falorni* - a salumi/restaurant. All the different charcuterie looked delicious and we had to bring some home.
As I suspected I was too full for dinner. We ended up finishing the rest of the picnic from the night before. My husband had to go into the pool once again while I tried to figure out how to strategically pack all of our purchases into the luggage. Then we had some whiskey to send us off to sleep.
Tomorrow we head back to Florence to get on a train for Bologna!
But it was so beautiful here that I will definitely return in the future.
*recommended
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| Beautiful hotel grounds. |
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